Testing smoke management system

Inspection, testing, and balancing or smoke management systems can be conducted by the building the owner, the construction contractor, a testing and balancing contractor, a code official, or some other person.

If backup power or other emergency power has been provided for the operation of the smoke management system, acceptance tests will be performed with emergency power and normal energy.

During a test initiated under normal power conditions, normal power must be cut off to determine the capacity of the system and all associated systems to operate properly in standby mode or other emergency power.

Zoned Smoke Control:

For zone smoke control, pressure differences at the limits of that zone must be measured. After the smoke control operation in that area has been deactivated, another zone should be tested in the same manner.

This procedure should be repeated until all the zone is tested.

Pressurized Stairwells:

Pressure differences through each stairway door must be measured with all stairway doors closed. Then, a door should be opened and pressure difference measurements made at each closed door of the staircase. This must be repeated until the number of doors open equals the number of doors required by the code authority to open.

Elevator Smoke Control:

The smoke control test depends on the type of elevator smoke control system. In general, design pressure differences should be measured at the appropriate locations for the particular design. If the intention of the system is to pressurize the elevator lobbies, the pressure differences between the closed doors of the lobby to the building must be measured. If the intention of the system is to pressurize the elevator shaft to prevent the flow of smoke through it, the pressure differences through the elevator doors must be measured.

Atrium Smoke Management:

In general, designs for smoke management in large spaces will be based on providing specific exhaust capacity from the upper region of the space and not exceeding an airflow in the openings into space. These flows and velocities must be measured. The temperature of the upper layer of the space should be measured to ensure that considerations about the stratification of the smoke in the atrium are appropriate.

Caution about Smoke Bombs:

For zone smoke control systems, a major problem with most smoke pump tests of smoke control systems is that they intend to test some improvement in smoke conditions in the area where they are located. the fire. This is based on the mistaken belief that smoke control is capable of producing a significant improvement in the sustainable conditions within the area where the fire is located.

The smoke control system is put into operation. In the area that is running out, several smoke bombs are lit. The smoke bombs produce all their smoke in a few minutes and the area quickly fills with smoke. Because the smoke control system is depleting the air and chemical smoke from this area, the concentration of chemical smoke decreases with time. If at any specific time after ignition, a human observer can see a specific object (such as an exit sign) at a specific distance (such as 20 feet), the smoke control system is declared successful.